float
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /floʊt/
- Audio (US)help, file
- Rhymes: -əʊt
[edit] Etymology
Old English flotian (“‘to float’”), from Proto-Germanic *flutojanan. Compare Old Norse flota, Icelandic fljóta and Mittle Dutch vloten.
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
float (plural floats)
- A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
- Attach the float and the weight to the fishing line, above the hook.
- A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades
- A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces.
- When pouring a new driveway, you can use a two-by-four as a float.
- An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
- That float covered in roses is very pretty.
- (British) A small battery-powered vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
- (finance) Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.
- Our bank does a nightly sweep of accounts, to adjust the float so we stay within our reserves limit.
- (finance, Australian, and other Commonwealth countries?) An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.
- 2006, You don't actually need a broker to buy shares in a float when a company is about to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. — Australian Securities and Investments Commission financial tips article, Buying shares in a float [1]
- (banking) The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.
- No sir, your current float is not taken into account, when assets are legally garnished.
- (insurance) Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.
- We make a lot of interest from our nightly float.
- (programming) Short form of floating-point number.
- That routine should not have used an int; it should be a float.
- A soft beverage with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream floating in it.
- It's true - I don't consider anything other than root-beer with vanilla ice-cream to be a "real" float.
- A small sum of money put in a cashier's till at the start of business to enable change to be made.
[edit] Synonyms
Shares offered to the public:
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
buoyant device used to support something in liquid
sort of trowel
funds committed to be paid but not yet paid
banking: total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank
insurance: premiums taken in but not yet paid out
programming: short form of floating-point number
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soft beverage with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream floating in it
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to float (third-person singular simple present floats, present participle floating, simple past and past participle floated)
- (intransitive) Of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.
- The boat floated on the water.
- The oil floated on the vinegar.
- (intransitive) To be capable of floating.
- That boat doesn't float.
- Oil floats on vinegar.
- (intransitive) To drift gently through the air.
- The balloon floated off into the distance.
- (intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly.
- I'm not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere.
- Images from my childhood floated through my mind.
- (intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating
- I'd love to just float downstream.
- (intransitive) To move in a fluid manner.
- The dancer floated gracefully around the stage.
- (intransitive) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
- (intransitive, finance) (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets as opposed to by rule.
- The yen floats against the dollar.
- (intransitive) (colloquial) (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.
- That's a daft idea... it'll never float.
- (transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density; as, to float a boat.
- (transitive) To propose (an idea) for consideration.
- I floated the idea of free ice-cream on Fridays, but no one was interested.
- (transitive) To extend a short-term loan to.
- Could you float me $50 until payday?
- (transitive, finance) To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.
- The government floated the pound in January.
- Increased pressure on Thailand's currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency.
- (transitive, finance, Australian, and other Commonwealth countries?) To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
- (transitive) To use a float (tool).
- It is time to float this horse's teeth.
[edit] Translations
be supported by a liquid
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be capable of floating
drift gently through the air
move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating
move in a fluid manner
allow a price to be determined by the markets as opposed to by rule
cause to be suspended
propose for consideration
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.